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Bert Rothenbach, Ph.D., Owner, Rothenbach Research and Consulting, has more than 30 years of survey research experience, including 25 years working with prevention needs-assessment projects. In this role he has supported the technical and scientific components of numerous statewide survey efforts, including 22 cycles of the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. In addition to state-level projects, his team has implemented hundreds of community-level surveys—including the Communities that Care (CTC) Youth Survey and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey—in more than 30 states. Dr. Rothenbach’s work has focused on adolescent substance use, with special emphasis on the emergence of electronic vapor product use, unauthorized prescription pain reliever use, and the abuse of over-the-counter medications. This includes research on how patterns of marijuana use and attitudes toward marijuana use have changed in response to evolving laws and norms. His work has also concentrated on the measurement of risk and protective factors associated with the development of antisocial behaviors in adolescence, such as substance use, violence, school drop-out, and high-risk sexual behavior. Much of his recent survey development work has addressed bullying behavior, adolescent emotional health, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). As part of his data collection methodology work, he has supported both state-level and district-level survey projects in their transition from paper-based to web-based survey administration. Dr. Rothenbach obtained his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.
Gwendolyn Boney-Harris is the Deputy Director for the Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy. Before becoming the Deputy Director, she was also the Lead Counselor responsible for providing guidance, teaching Life and Job Skills and assisting them while at the Academy. In doing so, helping them develop into productive citizens upon graduation. Over 6,068 Cadets have successfully accepted the Challenge and graduated from the program.
Ms. Boney-Harris started her career on active duty with the United States Army, commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and devoting over 28 years of service to her country culminating in attaining the rank of Colonel. She served in many military wars and campaigns during her tenure. After her distinguished military career, Ms Boney-Harris devoted her time to helping youth with mental health issues and began pursuing a career in the Mental Health profession.
Gwendolyn earned a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in 2021, a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Webster University in 2017 and a Master of Arts in Health Administration from Webster University in 2018. Ms. Boney-Harris continues to advocate for the struggling teens who are at risk by being a vocal leader at the National Youth ChalleNGe level.
Kathleen Roberts, MS, is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Coalition Alliance (CCA), Inc. She has over fifteen (15) years of experience working in behavioral health at the local community level, regional level, and state level. She received her Master of Science in Criminology from Florida
State University in 2010 as well as a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from University of Central Florida in 2003. In her role at CCA, she works with community coalitions, providers, and partners to assess substance use trends through data collection and analysis, research, partner engagements, and community assessments. Key to this work is centered on workforce development and capacity building to strengthen the role of coalitions across the
communities engaged. Ms. Roberts’s research background has focused on substance use, mental health, early childhood, social norms, antisocial behavior, parental influence, sexual violence, and prevention efforts. She also provides ongoing technical assistance and training and serves as a Master Trainer for Florida with the Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training (SAPST) Curriculum supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to joining CCA, Ms. Roberts was the Clinical Team Lead at the Department of Children and Families Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (SAMH) focusing on behavioral health related programmatic, clinical, and policy areas. In this role, she served as the State’s epidemiology workgroup lead, the team lead for the SAMH Clinical Team, and Florida’s National Prevention Network designee. Additionally, Ms.
Roberts has served as a Research Associate at Florida State University working on behavioral health related projects across communities in Florida.
Vanessa Salmo, MS is a dedicated public health professional who has been working in the fields of health science, public health, health promotion, and epidemiology for more than a decade. Ms. Salmo earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology complemented by minor in Bioethics, Humanities and Society from Michigan State University. She began her career leading the development and implementation of clinical quality improvement strategies within a variety of healthcare settings where she saw that addressing patients’ barriers required an interdisciplinary approach. Vanessa went on to attain a Master of Public Health from Oakland University. During her academic career she worked with several of her professors as a Public Health Researcher on research and evaluation projects related to HIV treatment adherence, healthcare access for children with developmental disabilities, youth safety, mental health, nutrition and physical activity. This academic journey equipped her with a solid foundation in understanding of health behavior theory, community-based research, statistical methods, and epidemiology.
CO + LAB is a dynamic and innovative group of youth coming together with the goal of raising awareness for better health for their peers and community.
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Robert P. Peryam is the Director of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (NFHIDTA) Investigative Support Center NFHISC). The NFHIDTA is a multi-agency criminal investigative support facility operated by representatives from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The Support Center primarily serves a twelve-
county region in northeast Florida consisting of Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St
Johns, and Union.
Southeast Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA- RC) seeks to develop and disseminate training and technical assistance to address opioid and stimulant use affecting rural communities in the eight states in Region 4. ROTA-RC will expand awareness of opioid and stimulate use, harm reduction, and options for treatment to improve the resiliency of the targeted 168 rural communities. To achieve the goals of the project, the Consortium will work in the rural counties to increase awareness and understanding on the factors that engender opioid and stimulant misuse, and work with local governments to increase prevention and treatment services by deploying evidence-based programs.
For more information visit Southeast Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center Website.
Ellen Snelling joined the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance (HCADA) in 2000 and currently serves as the board chair. HCADA’s mission is to prevent youth and adult substance abuse and promote healthy communities. Ellen chairs the Tampa Alcohol Coalition (TAC), a subcommittee of the HCADA created in 2001 in response to the high rate of underage drinking and DUI crashes in Hillsborough County. She
participates on the HCADA Marijuana Task Force and Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force and is a volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Hillsborough County. She serves on the Florida Coalition Alliance and Florida Impaired Driving Coalition. Ms. Snelling received her M.S. degree in dietetics from Florida International University.
Clay Action Coalition, Inc. (CAC) was created in 2004 as a community response of a “call to action” after data revealed a rapidly increasing number of Clay County youth engaging in underage drinking and an increase in alcohol and other drug related school suspensions and juvenile crimes. CAC is an alliance of local groups and stakeholders who share a desire to create positive change in our community. From its inception, the coalition’s mission has been “to prevent and reduce substance use among Clay County youth, and eventually adults, through increased education and collaboration,” and its vision simple: “to strengthen the community’s resolve to eliminate substance use.” To learn more, please visit https://clayactioncoalition.org/
Prevention Coalition of St. Johns County serves to:
What They Do
To learn more, please visit https://preventioncoalitionofstjohnscounty.com/
RDEN_HIPS_ClayNetworking, visiting the HIPS Trailer
The Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (OALE) enforces laws governing businesses regulated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). We protect consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices, protect Florida’s agriculture industry from theft and other crimes, and safeguard the wholesomeness of food and other consumer products. We operate 23 agricultural inspection stations on 19 highways going into and out of Florida. Officers conduct vehicle inspections 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure the safety of Florida’s food supply. Officers are on the lookout for unsafe or unwholesome food that could make people sick, and plant and animal pests and diseases that could harm the state’s $100 billion agriculture industry. OALE investigates crimes involving agriculture and those occurring on property owned or operated by FDACS. We help maintain domestic security, participating in all seven regional Domestic Security Task Forces statewide. We partner with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and help coordinate the Domestic Marijuana Eradication Task Force.
RDEN_Ag LawThe Florida Department of Health’s (FDOH) work to combat the overdose crisis aligns with their mission to protect, promote, and
improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts. Overdose prevention aligns with the Florida State Health improvement Plan (SHIP) within the priority area of mental well-being and substance abuse prevention, including opioid use. Florida’s overdose epidemic continues to pose a considerable challenge that FDOH addresses through surveillance, prevention, education, and policy efforts. The Florida OD2A program has a direct connection to the FDOH Strategic Plan in the strategic priority area of long, healthy life and the goal to increase health life expectancy, including the reduction of health disparities to improve the health of all groups.
OD2A is funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Overdose Data to Action cooperative agreement. The program launched in September 2019 and funds 66 jurisdictions across the country, including state, county, city, and territorial health departments. The goal of OD2A is to enhance overdose surveillance, in order to develop data informed overdose prevention activities. OD2A believes that by improving the surveillance systems necessary for gathering complete and real-time data on overdoses and using that data to inform prevention and response efforts within own activities and those of our community partners at the state and local levels. OD2A’s intent is to ensure that our prevention policies and actions and those of their partners and stakeholders are well-informed to do relevant and efficacious work within surveillance and prevention and further to ensure that these components are implemented as part of a cohesive system response to ultimately decrease the rate of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder within our state as part of a combined national effort.
Monitoring & Surveillance
RDEN_OD2A_Duval
Closing Remarks
